Need
by Fluehatraya
Summary: Gourry ponders why he still sticks with Lina when she clearly does not need him. Slight L/G, but not really romantic.


I do not own Slayers. Also, this is my first ever attempt at writing a fanfic, and this is intended to just be a test. I am interested in writing more serious fanfics, and I would be grateful for any reviews regardless of the content.

Beloved child of the sun, the fish who leaps glistening gold and blue above the delightful, obscuring shining waves; why do you taint yourself with the dark blood of the lesser upon your gleaming blade?

Gourry was often lost in thought; most just thought him lost. He was a quiet man and a bit of a slow thinker, but he took the time to think everything through thoroughly. As a result, he was often left behind. Now was such a time.

"Gourry! How long are you going to stand there gawking at the sky!" Lina snapped, breaking Gourry's revery. Gourry slowly withdrew from the viscuous material that was his mind to turn his gaze, formerly looking out into space, to the petite sorceress, who was not so much of a cute petite at the current time as a petite volcano about to blow. The blonde swordsman started musing this: Lina certaintly was growing red in the face. He really could imagine her copper-red tresses as lava, ready to consume anything in its path - very alike to the forceful nature of his companion and her favorite spells, as a matter of fact.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Lina said as her voice grew calm. That was when Gourry started fretting; he hadn't been listening to Lina while thinking and she was now the calm before the storm!

"Erm . . . help you with the loot?" He took a stab, hands held up to appease the sorceress.

Lina blinked, clearly surprised, and Gourry sighed internally with relief. This meant he had answered right, or at least distracted her from blowing up on him.

"Yes. Now get to it!" She barked.

Nodding, Gourry scrambled to get into action, first looking around for his sword. He found it, and wrenched it free from the cooling carcass of the bandit it was sheathed in. He took a few moments to stare at the blade of the weapon, the fires caused by Lina's recklessly-tossed Fireballs gleaming on its blade and the blood upon it, which looked eerily bright and alive in the lighting. A sense of loss pervaded him at that instant, and he looked from his beloved tool to Lina, who was happily piling the ill-gotten treasures of the decimated bandit gang into sacks. Why did he participate in such actions with Lina? Why stick with her? She did not need him.

Shaking his head but still troubled, Gourry cleaned the blade off on the relatively clean tunic of a bandit and returned it to its proper sheath, planning to give it a thorough cleaning later. He was silent as he helped Lina with her newfound wealth and as they were walking down the rugged forest path.

By now, Lina could clearly sense something was wrong with Gourry, even though he did not seem injured at all. He stared straight ahead, not even flashing to her those small but radiant smiles, like miniature suns, that he was so inclined to doing. Instead, his face was set in a serious mask, the likes of which she rarely saw outside of combat. He wasn't even turning to face her, and by now he had surely realized she was staring quite shamelessly at him; Gourry always had some way of knowing, as if like some sixth sense, when she was staring at him.

So absorbed was she in observing him, trying to discern what was wrong, that she had not been paying attention to the path. One of her feet became caught by the upraised root of a tree, and she went tripping forward.

Gourry saw Lina's dilemma and, without even thinking about it, lunged forward and caught the sorceress in his arms. She smiled up at him, and his heart melted, his troubles blown away so easily. Lina was not a title - a Bandit Killer, Dragon Spooker, or Demon Lords' Leftovers - she was simply Lina, a small girl who just happened to be an extraordinarily powerful sorceress, out all alone in the world save for him. Perhaps he had other, more important, ways for protecting her.

After an exclamation from a blushing Lina when she realized the situation she was in, Gourry quickly deposited her back onto the path, and they started carrying on their way once more. When Lina stared at Gourry, she found him gazing back, and the smiles he graced her with seemed perhaps a bit brighter than ordinary.


End file.
